[TXSTYLE]

I'm not really big on Space and the Exploration thereof, astronomy etc, however, I found this pretty interesting if not beautiful! I've seen several different photos of space and the stars. Sometimes they appear sparse and other times it looks like space is entirely covered with stars! Clearly from these photos, it is definitely the latter...

Eighty percent of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way where they live.

Filmmaker Sriram Murali is here to show them what they’re missing.

In the following video — which you should do yourself a favor and watch in full screen — Murali shows us what the constellation Orion looks like in several locations, each one farther and farther away from light pollution. In the first two, San Francisco and Palo Alto, California, you can just faintly see Orion because it’s washed out by light pollution. By the time you get to the last location, Goblin Valley State Park in Utah, Orion is lost again — but because there are just so many other stars to look at!

The video is the second in a series on light pollution from Murali. In the first, he focused on images of the Milky Way. This one zeroes in on the constellation Orion because it tends to be recognizable even to people who live in cities. “Most people haven’t seen [the Milky Way],” he writes in an email. “But, the Orion is a more common sight.”

Murali created the video out of a series of still-frame images he animated into a time lapse. That’s why you see the light of planes and perhaps a few shooting star whiz across the frame.

Murali works on these videos in his spare time. “The most difficult part is actually getting to those places,” he says. “My wife and I travel a lot to National Parks for this. I do more planning than anything else.”

Below, you can see the progression of the stars in and around Orion as light pollution dissipates. The top location in the image is San Fransisco. The second is Palo Alto. From there it’s Foster City, California; Monte Bello Open Space Preserve in California; Pigeon Point Lighthouse, California; Arches National Park in Utah, Canyonlands National Park in Utah; and finally Goblin Valley State Park in Utah.
“Being under a sky full of stars makes you feel tiny, humble, kind and caring,” Murali writes. “But, thanks to light pollution, most people lack this connection.”

Light pollution, as Vox’s Brad Plumer writes, is not just impacting our sense of wonder. There’s also evidence it alters our daily circadian rhythms, making it harder to sleep. It’s disruptive to wildlife too.

This video won’t solve those problems. But it may inspire you to get out there and experience the night sky for yourself.

>link to video below<


http://www.vox.com/science-and-healt...ollution-video

[Taskmaster]

That absolutely crazy. I bet you could see it from North Korea at night.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

That absolutely crazy. I bet you could see it from North Korea at night.

Only if your prison bars are at the right angle.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Only if your prison bars are at the right angle.

[VRG_135]

I thought this was about the Orion spacecraft......I'm a nasa/space junkie. I can tell you when we were in New Mexico last week, viewing was not a problem!

[Taskmaster]

[img=]http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/north%20korea%20night%20photo_0.jpg[/img]

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

[img=]http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/north%20korea%20night%20photo_0.jpg[/img]

The one light on is in The Glorious Maximum Enlightened Ruler For Life's Celestial Palace.

[shay2nak]

That's amazing you can see some of the nebula itself. Astronomy is the shiznit. Wish I had gotten into it as a profession.

[schoy]

I thought the airplane streaks were pretty neat, even in the last location. Really shows how much air traffic there is at any given time.

[Kong Sheng Han]

[Ross61]

Originally Posted by schoy

I thought the airplane streaks were pretty neat, even in the last location. Really shows how much air traffic there is at any given time.

Did you notice the satellites?

Wife and I will sit out back on clear evenings and just look for them - satellite watching.

[hlothery]

OP, if you have not yet made the trip from Plano to Ft. Davis, I highly recommend it. The McDonald Observatory puts on a nice Star Party, with astronomers with green lasers to point out the constellations, and after they have 6-9 telescopes set up with an astronomer at each to show a lot of neat stuff. And the night sky there (and at Big Bend, for that matter) is astounding.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by shay2nak

That's amazing you can see some of the nebula itself. Astronomy is the shiznit. Wish I had gotten into it as a profession.

Agreed.

I was always fascinated with such things. I remember doing a camping trip to Yosemite right after HS with some friends. One night we looked up and saw a sky littered with countless stars. Is swear we saw the Milky Way there. Since then I have never been to able to recreate it. Perhaps too much pollution now compared to 15 years ago.

[Fundguy1]

Last pic reminded me of hawaii

[SheaButter]

Really cool thanks for Sharing! Super random, one of my clients just shared this with me AS I WAS WATCHING IT. So I sent it to my friend that works at Nasa, since he fkn loves this stuff.

[UncleWede]

I still remember as a kid, camping up in the Sierras, and seeing this HE-UGE fireball fly across the top of the trees surrounded by millions of stars. It was so damn cold sleeping at that place though, ice slip/fall was a regular hazard, and we slept fully clothed in jackets inside our sleeping bags. You could see the moon thru the cracks in the ceiling.

[Mark M]

Yet another reason I love getting away to West Virginia. Canaan valley and blackwater falls parks are surreal.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by SheaButter

Really cool thanks for Sharing! Super random, one of my clients just shared this with me AS I WAS WATCHING IT. So I sent it to my friend that works at Nasa, since he fkn loves this stuff.

You're welcome.

It is very intriguing stuff!

[TheHouseWon]